I couldn’t resist it, and have attached some decals with the P101tv logo to the side of my 911. Like the Porsche decals, these run along the side of the car from the back of the front wheel arch to the begining of the rear arch.
I can’t tell a lie though – these decals are a figmant of my imagination and have been added using my new favourite piece of software: Photoshop. At least I can see what the 911 would look like with the decals added. Of course Im not going ahead with the decals, but it seems that photoshop is a great way of trying out modification before going ahead with what could be an expensive mistake. For now, my 911 will remain plain black.
I have started to teach myself how to use Photoshop. It’s a great pioece of software and I’m only just scratching the surface of what it can do. Of course, as you might expect, I’m using my Porsche as the centrepiece of my experiments.
Moonlit Porsche
This photo was originally taken against a aircraft hanger and I have changed it to set it against a blue sky with whtite clouds. I have also added a day time moon for effect. I have also spent some time on the car itself to make blend well with its new surroundings.
You can see some other Photoshop pictures of my 911 here:
Its no secret that pre 1990 911′s have pretty poor headlight output.
A lot of the problem is attributed to the fact that the headlights and mainbeam have no relays for delivering the required current. Rather the current is drawn through the headlight flasher switch on the steering column. This switch has flimsy read type switch contacts and it is common for this to burn out as a result of the high current loads. They are also very expensive to replace and another good reason for a wiring upgrade.
There is an aftermarket relay kit by sucro which is relatively innexpensive. I have not personally installed these so can’t vouch for their quality. I wanted to keep with the OEM look so this wasn’t going to be an option for me.
Porsche Headlight Relay
I designed a circuit diagram for the upgrade using standard porsche relays and relay holders. I worked out which fuses were required for standard and upgraded headlight bulbs. The diagram is located in the ‘porsche reference library’ section of the forum.
The difference is clear. After the upgrade the output was noticably brighter.
I also upgraded the bulbs to Philips H4 Xenon +80% which are all legal for MOT purposes.
It was a long time comming, but I’ve been really pleased with Channel P101tv. New members have been joining, slowly but steadily. There are now 126 members and the site has had over 4m hits since I launched in April this year. So there are alot of Porsche enthusiasts out there enjoying the site.
I had wanted to do something like it for sometime, but only recently had the time (or the skills) to pull it all together. It’s got all the features of the bigger video sites, plus a few others. It’s great to be able to share videos’ pictures and even write a blog in one place.
Like any new website there are a few little glitches, but nothing major. I’ve been writing a help section, but it all takes time. I’ll try and write more soon so it’s more comprehensive. Any suggestings please contact me. I’m always pleased to hear ideas or suggestions from fellow enthusiasts.
This one of my favourite videos.
It’s a fantastic machine. An RSR look 911 with a fantastic sound to match the aggressive wide bodied stance. The circuit looks like alot fun.
The 911 from 1974 to 1989 was equiped with the “Flag” door mirror. Made of good old fashed foundry metal they are heavy units and weigh in at 1,700g each – that’s a wopping 3,400g per pair. Don’t get me wrong, the Flag mirrors are great but in an attempt to freshen up the look of my old classic 911, I decided to fit a pair of Aero mirrors which were developed for the 964 and 993 variants of the 911.
Flag Mirrors
The Aero mirrors cost a small fortune from OPC so I scouted round for a second hand pair. I found mine at Type911 in Bromely, Kent. Matthew is a great guy and did a good deal on a pair of unmarked second mirrors including the glass.
Flag mirrors are made fro a cast iron base unit, but the main mirror is produced from plastic. As a result the Aero mirror weighs on 900g each or 1,800 per pair. Thats a huge saving of 1,600g. Doesnt sound much, but as the saying goes, “every little helps”. Besides, I think the Aero mirror is a much sleeker cleaner look for the classic 911.
Fitting the Aero mirrors is simple. The Base plate mounts ndirectly into the pre-exisiting
Porsche Aero Mirrors
holes drilled for the the Flag mirrors, so its a simple matter of a direct swap. The mirrors I bought were the wrong colour, so I decided to strip the mirrors down and spray them properly and re-assemble afterwards. This isn’t as simple as it sounds. The base plate and mirror housing are held together by a really powerful spring which keeps the two parts together by way of a cam. In order to seperate them you have to make a spring compressor which will compress the spring sufficiently to relive pressure from the cam in order to pull the two parts together. You can make this from a bolt, steel eyeletts and some washers. The most difficult part was re-assembley.
Anyway, despite the difficuilty in taking the mirrors apart, I’vm very pleased with the final result.
Well, after accepting the position of UK Correspondant to the US publication “9Magazine”, my first article will appear in the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of the magazine. I have put together an article on Ian Cox’s Porsche 911 3.2 SSE, or Supersport as they have become known. Im not going to give anything away before the issue is out in print, but hopefully you’ll find it an interesting read….Ian is a great guy and his 911 is a great example of a very special model.
The Fuchs alloys are amazing wheels. Not only do they look fantastic on the classic Porsche 911′s, but their build quality places them ahead of many. I have written about the Fuchs alloy before which you can read about here: The Fuchs Alloy.
The Fuchs alloy has become quite an expensive wheel to buy and the second market is thriving. Finding good ones is always a challenge, and to re-furbish them is expensive. So looking after them is vital if your to avoid expense as well as ruin their looks. Fuchs are normally painted in the centre and anodised around the rims.
Hot brake dust is a Fuchs worst enemy. Unchecked it will burn through the protective coating and open the alloy up to the elements to be corroded away. Perhaps almost as bad as brake dust, is some loving owners, who with all the right intentions clean their wheels with corrosive cleaners. Some wheel cleaners will also eat through the anodise coating on the wheel and cause more harm than good.
So, looking after the Fuchs is important. Regular washing and waxing will keep these alloys in perfect condition. Just a normal car shampoo is fine. Applying a good wax will help prevent brake dust doing its worst. Rim Wax is a good product and will provide a good protective barrier to damage. The trick to keeping these wheels in good condition, is regular washing and waxing.
Shining bright, my Fuchs Wheel
My fuchs has had all the anodise removed and the alloy polished to a mirror finish. Even after exposing them in this way I have kept them in perfect order mile after mile by washing and waxing.
I bought myself an Audi A8 4.0 V8 a few weeks ago and its been a joy to drive. It has all the niceties of a modern car, like SatNav, TV, DVD, Cruise Control, Double Glazing and much, much more. It truly is a great car.
My 911 has taken a back seat since I bought the Audi, but today with the sun shining I took the 911 out for a spin. I disconnected the 911 from its life support systems in the garage. Disconnected the battery conditioner, turned off the dehumidifier and took off the car cover. Even as I removed the car cover, just the image of my 911 brought a grin to my face. Its such a great shape, and never seems to age, even though its now 36 years old.
I drove her for about fifty miles making sure I stayed to the twisty bits as much as possible. She is everything the Audi isn’t. She doesn’t have any modern driver aids like traction control, stability management and ABS, and to be honest I’m glad she doesn’t. The pure driver involvement in the 911 gives you such a thrill. She accelerates like nothing else I’ve driven and holds the corners like it’s nailed to the floor. After my fifty miles of adrenalin fuel driving, I brought her home and reconnected her to her life support systems. It had been four weeks since I drove her last – that’s the longest I ever been without my Porsche fix. It won’ty happen again. The Audi is a technological marvel, but the classic 911 is so much better in every way that matters.
Im pleased to say that Stuttgart Exchange has just had its 250th member sign-up.
I set the website up a few months ago as a totally free auction site for all things Porsche. I’d been buying and selling various parts from my own Porsche project which is what drove me to set something up for everyone to use. It was exhausting and sometimes very frustrating searching everywhere for the part I needed, so I thought a central place for enthusiasts to be able to buy and sell their Porsche parts would benefit everyone.
The site seems to be going well and parts are being exchanged regularly. Traffic has been steady which see’s about 100,000 hits each month. The more members the better for everyone so I hope it continues to grow.
Stuttgart Exchange has many of the features of the larger established auction sites, but the main difference being that Stuttgart Exchange is totally free to use. Members auctions can be reslisted time and time again until they sell. Even if you let time lapse a little before a member decides to re-list their unsold item they can do so with out the need to re-type everything out. All details of unsold auctions are kept on the system for 100 days.
I hope to write again soon as more and more members join the auction service.
Today is a very good day. I received a call from Vince Catena, the editor of 9Magazine in the United States, offering me the position of UK Correspondent for his magazine for Porsche enthusiasts. It was a position I was glad to accept.
9Magazine is a quality publication and is always packed with great articles and features on your favourite Porsche. So in the comming months you should see my name featured amongst 9Magazine’s pages. I intend to write one article for each issue of the magazine. The articals will focus on Porsche stories in the UK to be retold to a US Porsche fan base. I have many friends who like me are Porsche enthusiasts through and through and I suspect their cars will feature strongly in my writing. If you feel you have a good story to tell, please don’t hesitate to contact me to see if its something I could use for a future issue.
